Red Sox take Game 1 of World Series 8-1

Lester fine as offense gets to Wainwright early to doom Cardinals

Red Sox DH David Ortiz hits a two-run home run against the Cardinals in the bottom of the seventh inning of Game 1 of the World Series. (CJ Gunther / EPA photo)

BOSTON — The Red Sox's renaissance started during the regular season with a patient and powerful offense that provided ample cushion for a pitching staff that possessed one of the top bullpens in the major leagues.

And in the postseason, the Red Sox have received even more help — from their opponents.

The Red Sox offense took advantage of Adam Wainwright's lack of command and three errors Wednesday night to support the dominant pitching of Jon Lester and cruise to an 8-1 victory over the Cardinals at Fenway Park in Game 1 of the World Series at Fenway Park.

"(The Cardinals) are not a team that's going to beat themselves," Red Sox catcher David Ross said. "They did (Wednesday)."

Lester stretched his scoreless streak in World Series play to 131/3 innings, thanks to a cut fastball that frequently jammed a Cardinals lineup that lost valuable right fielder Carlos Beltran in the third inning.

Beltran, playing in his first World Series game after 15 seasons, suffered a right rib bruise after running into the right field fence to rob David Ortiz of a grand slam in the second and is listed as day to day after X-rays were negative.

That added to a frustrating night for the Cardinals, who never recovered from a rocky first inning.

Mike Napoli made them pay dearly for a controversial error by shortstop Pete Kozma with a three-run double in the first. Initially, second base umpire Dana DeMuth ruled Kozma caught Matt Carpenter's throw for the second out at second base and lost the ball while attempting to throw.

Red Sox manager John Farrell argued the call and after an umpires' meeting, the call was overruled to lead the bases for Napoli.

"I don't think it was a momentum shift by any means because they got the call right," Red Sox left fielder Jonny Gomes said.

The Red Sox's opportunistic tone was set Oct. 4 when Rays right fielder Wil Myers' field lapse led to five runs and a cozy Red Sox 12-2 victory in Game 1 of the American League Division Series.

The Red Sox added two more runs Wednesday night in the second after Stephen Drew hit a popup in front of the mound that fell in front of Wainwright's feet.

They added another pair on Ortiz's two-run homer that followed David Freese's throwing error to make it 7-0.

Lester retired nine of the first 10 batters he faced and the final nine as he became the third pitcher in Series history to post consecutive scoreless starts in his first two Series starts (2007, 2013), joining Christy Mathewson (1905) and Madison Bumgarner (2010, 2012).

"This time of year, you have to think about winning each inning," Lester said.

Lester equaled his postseason high with eight strikeouts and lowered his postseason ERA to 1.67. His five postseason wins are the most for a Red Sox left-hander.